Chapter 3

Well, we have good news and bad news.

The good news is that we’ve moved away from numbered lists and organization of the people of Israel (for the moment!).

The bad news is that now we’re into numbered lists and organization of the Tribe of Levi!

Well, let’s get into it anyway.

We start with setting out the Tribe of Levi and splitting them up into their families and clans. We hear about Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron who died in the incident where they offered “Unauthorised sacrifices” (whatever that means; I don’t know personally, but it sounds bad), leaving Eleazar and Ithamar to serve as priests. Note that priesthood was to be a hereditary office (something which leaves celibate priests in a bit of a pickle).

Then we have another of these patterns we see in the book of numbers – namely, each of the three Levite families is named, its clans listed, it is counted and its duties are set out. So the families descended from Gershon are responsible for the movement and maintenance of the Tabernacle tent itself; the descendants of Kohath are responsible for the Ark of the Covenant, the altars, the tables and all other holy objects; and the descendants of Merari were responsible for moving the frames of the Tabernacle and its cords and tent pegs. Once again, we see amazing organization befitting a city more than a bunch of nomadic tribes.

Moses and Aaron and his sons were listed as camping to the East of the Tabernacle. They were to be alone in performing the Tabernacle rituals, on pain of death. And the number of Levites is finalized on 22,000 (considerably smaller than the other tribes).

But this chapter contains something very interesting, which is worth considering further – God talks about how the Levites are being taken in place of the firstborn sons of the Israelites. This may take a bit of explaining.

In Exodus we read of the plague of the firstborn, which was the last straw in allowing the people of Israel the freedom to leave. What you might NOT have picked up is that the plague actually affected the Israelites as well – the key was simple; God declared that the lives of the Firstborn children were forfeit. The secret was that the people of Israel had been told to REDEEM those children by substituting a lamb.

The theme of redemption is built into scripture, and can be found just about everywhere. Here in Numbers we see yet another place where redemption can be found. The Levites being set aside for God is nothing more or less than the redemption of the people of Israel – they are taken in place of the firstborn of the entire assembly! (Here we’re going to forget about the typically Numbers detail about how to deal with the fact that there are 273 more firstborn sons in the assembly than the tribe of Levi).

It has been said that the only page of the scriptures which is not inspired by God is the page separating the Old Testament from the New Testament (one Bible college lecturer going as far as to tell his students to tear that page out of their Bibles!). This might be an extreme way of saying it, but there’s a point. Sometimes we feel like there’s a different God in the Old and New Testaments; we see the vengefulness, the ruthless judgement, the “I am a Jealous God”, and compare it with the loving forgiveness of Christ. It seems not to make sense.

But there ARE hints here and there that it is the same God. The theme of Redemption is one of those. Another is the theme of substitutionary atonement – the idea that one can pay the price for another. Both of these themes are found here. But they take on a special significance for the Christian, who lives their entire life based on the concept that they are, once and for all time, redeemed by God in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We see this part of the book of Numbers as one of many illustrations God has placed into history (and therefore into His word) of what will eventually save humankind from the burden of their sins.

There is consistency in this. The God we worship, the one who has redeemed us, is the same God who commands a substitution to take place to redeem His people here in Numbers 3.